


Flying Towards The Future

by squidgie



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: First Time, Gift Fic, M/M, Winter In Hawaii fic exchange 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 07:57:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5531789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squidgie/pseuds/squidgie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve has slowly realized that he thinks of Danny as more than a friend and it's fine - until Danny asks him to go back to New Jersey for Christmas with him and Grace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flying Towards The Future

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Knights13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knights13/gifts).



> Knights13 - This isn't the fic that I'd planned on writing, but rather the fic that my Muse wanted me to write. I may still write that fic, if I can get it straightened out in my head enough. But I hope you enjoy this!

Steve McGarrett is wound up so tight, his teeth feel like they are on edge.

He blows a sigh through slightly flared nostrils and takes in his surroundings. As a graduate of the Naval Academy, and with his time spent in the Navy SEALs, he was trained to covertly take in everything around him, process it as he established a baseline for possible threats, create multiple exit strategies, and focus on other's weaknesses to use them as strength, should he need it.

But his current situation didn't call for that. Instead, it had him fidgeting in his seat so much that Danny stirred gently before turning his gaze upon Steve and elbowing him in the stomach.

Glancing at his watch, Steve realizes that there are still close to eight hours, fifty-three minutes left. Almost nine long hours until the plane touches down in Newark.

~*~*~*~

When Danny announced that he was taking Grace back to New Jersey for Christmas, a pang of the coming emptiness touched Steve's soul and threatened to take up residence through the New Year. The feeling aggravated him somewhat, because - at least to his partner - he and Danny were just friends. And as he sat there in his office chair letting Danny's voice flow over him because even a simple request, like one for time off from work, could produce an epic rant, which Steve secretly loved. Danny eased gently against the doorframe and looked smug as Steve gently frowned and let his mind consider spending the holidays alone - though his attention had come screaming back to the moment when he heard Danny ask, "You, wanna come with?"

It took a split second for Steve to respond, "Yes," even before his brain could kick in.

Steve tried to feel guilty about it, and almost immediately backed out the next day when Danny had presented him with an airline ticket. But Danny just shook his head, muttered something under his breath that sounded strangely like, "You're not going to melt in the snow, princess," before rolling his eyes and heading back to his own office. Steve pushed himself up out of his chair, but before he could press the point, Kono called in with a new case, and they were off.

In the weeks leading up to the holidays, more often than not Danny invited himself over to Steve's, Grace in tow. The excuse had always been to use Steve's expansive beach, with Danny sticking back by the house as Steve and Grace played in the water. And as he thought about it, Danny - usually accompanied by Grace, but not always - had been showing up quite a bit more than usual. Visits had become more frequent rather abruptly after Catherine had left, which Steve figured had been on purpose; the first time Catherine left, Danny called him out for 'Being morose'. "That means you're being even more of a pain in my ass than usual," Danny had announced, though Steve just muscled him out of the house and to a local spot for beer. The thing was, Steve's thing with Catherine was...well, nothing special. Sure, he liked her, but she was no Danny - even a platonic Danny. With Catherine, it was more like having a warm body next to him rather than someone to share his time with.

And if he were being honest with himself, Steve preferred Danny's company any day. It was like Danny was the yin to his yang, the peanut butter to his chocolate, the pizza to his beer. He was a better man when he was with Danny, though he'd never tell Danny that for fear of his partner holding it over his head for the next few dozen years.

The nights after Danny left (Steve unable to convince him to take the guest room) had been the hardest. Left alone with his thoughts, Steve tried not to think about it, but eventually couldn't push the idea of Danny out of his head. Specifically, the way Danny looked when he was ranting about something, arms flailing like they were juggling half a dozen knives. Or, the way he blustered when Steve poked him, discounting something Danny idolized from back home, and instead pointing out the better equivalent on the island. And the way Danny said he hated the water, but would abandon his shoes and socks, and roll up the material of his pants to walk with him and Gracie through the surf at the end of a visit.

Steve knew that Danny's friendship meant more to him than he realized when one afternoon he watched the way Danny's hair looked as they stood in the failing sunlight, eyes crinkled up in a smile - something that his partner gave freely. And while the smile, and Danny's usual accompaniment of the nickname, "Babe," wasn't anything new, the more time they hung out, the more Steve felt his attraction to his partner grow.

The first time Steve managed to get an unexpected erection around Danny had been in the office. Standing around the tech table as they talked plans for an undercover op, Danny had given Steve a wink, and then followed it up with strong fingers stroking down Steve's arm. He knew Danny meant it as a way of conveying, "We got this, Babe." But as Danny's fingertips continued down Steve's arm, gliding just over the skin until abandoning their path as they neared Steve's palm, Steve felt his cock begin to fill. He cleared his throat and watched as Danny lifted his hand to rub at the stubble on his chin, and Steve just focused on the muscles that tensed in Danny's forearm, feeling the blood pump into his cock and his heart titter for half a beat.

"Yeah, I gotta," Steve said as he hiked his thumb over his shoulder, and then made his way to the downstairs bathroom, where he locked the door behind him, pants pooled at his ankles, and had his throbbing cock in his grip seconds later. He came, breathlessly shooting his load into the urinal as the vivid memory of Danny's forearms played over and over in his head as he wondered just how those strong fingers would feel wrapped around his cock.

It was then that Steve knew he was screwed. He had somehow fallen for his partner; his beautiful, winsome, charming, infuriating, _heterosexual_ partner. And when Danny asked Steve if he wanted to go back to New Jersey with him, he couldn't help it but let his mouth say, "Yes." To be completely honest, he would agree to just about anything Danny would ask, his brain sitting these conversations out. But as long as Steve could temper his feelings, he would be okay.

He hoped.

The Sunday before their flight, Danny showed up with Gracie in tow like normal. They spent a few hours out in the waves, Danny calling them in and gesturing with his phone, and then announcing when they approached the shaded lanai that Step-Stan and Rachel were on their way.

"You not taking Gracie home?" Steve had asked as Danny held out a towel.

"You and me - we got business to discuss," Danny had said, though not giving any other word as to what it was. He just dropped a kiss on Grace's messy, wet hair and then had given Steve a wink.

Steve had immediately let his mind wander at just exactly _what_ they were going to discuss, which led to him subconsciously wrapping his towel around his waist. "I'm gonna shower," he muttered, and was inside before his clingy swimsuit could show off any more than it already was.

He had stood under the water, letting it run cold until the thoughts of Danny were pushed back, and his dick had finally gotten the message to 'back off'. He finally wrapped a clean towel around his waist and headed out into his bedroom - where he found Danny leaning over his bed. "Umm," is all he could manage, his mind racing with the thought of darting back into the shower.

Turning around, Danny had gestured to the suitcase that he'd dug out of Steve's closet and currently held a few nondescript pieces of clothing.

"This is _Jersey_ we're going to. There's gonna be snow - _lots of it_ , so pack like an adult and not like some deranged toddler who doesn't play in the water every afternoon. Capisce?" adding another all-knowing look (accompanied by what seemed like a long glance that went from Steve's toes, up his torso, and locking on Steve's eyes). With a nod, he was out of Steve's bedroom, calling, "Don't you have any thermals or jackets?" as Steve heard his partner rummaging through the hallway closet.

~*~*~*~

Steve breathes out through his nose again, glancing at his watch. Eight hours, forty-seven minutes left in the flight. The crew, as so often happens on overnight flights, had cranked up the heat, so that people would drift off to sleep. Steve knew it was a trick that the airline did, and something even some of the pilots he flew with did, especially after a critical mission. As a general rule, it helped people relax. But to Steve, it just made him uncomfortable.

"Babe?" Steve hears to his right, and looks over, Danny locking onto his glaze. Steve catches Danny's eye in the darkened cabin. "Why don't you stop fidgeting and try and get some sleep?"

Chuffing out a sigh, Steve just shakes his head. "Can't sleep on planes, Danny."

Danny rolls his eyes, and then turns an upraised eyebrow to Steve. "Here," he says, gesturing with his shoulder. "I'll even let you have the other one if it'll help."

Looking forward, Steve glances over Danny and sees Grace's sleeping figure, leaning over her seat and into Danny's, little hands wrapped around Danny's right arm and her sleeping face smushed against Danny's bicep, making her look even younger than her already young self. "'s okay," Danny adds. "Rachel used to do it all the time."

Smiling, Steve replies, "I'm a little bit bigger than your ex-wife, Danno."

Looking Steve up and down, making an already fidgety Steve even _more_ fidgety, Danny says, "Don't I know it..."

Steve blusters, but before he can come back with a response, Danny sighs and says, "This... _This_ is why I told you to bring something to keep yourself occupied, Steven." Danny points to the backpack under the seat in front of him and says, "Grab that, will ya?"

Steve does as he's told, handing the backpack to Danny. Danny, in turn, puts the backpack in Steve's lap and unzips it, thrusting his hand in - and if Steve wasn't fully hard before, he certainly is _now_ , with the gentle pressure of Danny's hand as it searches the bag.

It's a good thing that the cabin lights are dimmed, because Steve's face holds a blush that warms his entire body.

" _Here_ ," Danny says, pulling out a computer tablet. "There's books and games on here," he says as he hands the tablet over to Steve. When Steve doesn't do anything with it, Danny hits the power button, punches in the tablet's code, and then starts showing Steve where everything is. "Books... Magazines... Even some strategy and shoot-em-up games, because I figure you'd like those."

Steve hands the tablet back, shaking his head. "I'm not really much into games. And I hate reading on these things," he says after Danny refuses the tablet, so Steve dumps it back into the backpack and stores it back under the seat. "I've got a book" he says, pointing to the overhead bin where his own bag is stowed.

"Nuh-uh," Danny says, nixing the idea, and then gesturing around the cabin. "Everybody's asleep, and you will _not_ wake up Gracie with that damn overhead light."

Grunting, Steve asks, "What the hell am I supposed to do then?"

Blowing out a sigh of his own, Danny starts, "Well, you could sit quietly for the next few-"

"Danny, why did you invite me?" Steve blurts out, interrupting him.

Leaning back at the question, Danny rakes his hand over his face, then shakes his head. After another glance at Steve that makes Steve wonder if he's grown a second head, Danny quietly says, "Because I wanted to."

"Yeah, but-" Steve begins, but this time Danny cuts _him_ off.

"Look," he says as he lets his hand gently pat Steve's forearm. "I don't know if you know this about me, but...see, family is important. And you...well, you're part of my little family - to Gracie and me."

Considering it, Steve asks, "So I'm family?" Steve lets his mind wander to a dark place, and quietly asks, "Was this like an obligation?" hoping the answer is no.

"No, no, no," Danny says. "Not family, but _part_ of the family."

Now Steve's confused, and he's sure that, even in the low light, the expression on his face is puzzling Danny. "So what's the difference?"

Danny looks away at first, and then scrubs his face again before garnering Steve's gaze. But this time it's almost a little sheepish, like the words Danny are trying to put together are deliberate, hard to choose. "See, back in Jersey, when it was the three of us - me, Rachel, and Gracie - well, we were a family. And after Rachel left, she took Grace with her, and I lost that. But now, you know, over the last couple of years..." Danny lets his voice trail off, and then he says, "You're important to Gracie, you know. And - you know - me, too." Danny moves his fidgeting hand from his lap, and then slowly places it on Steve's until it hovers just inches above his own. Steve automatically turns his own hand palm up, letting Danny's fingers grasp around his. "You and Gracie... You're my little family."

Steve's mouth goes dry as he realizes the weight of Danny's words, and glances down at their clasped hands. He knows his heart is racing in his chest, but he doesn't care. He squeezes Danny's fingers in his own, his face split with a smile. "Danny, you know-"

"I know, Babe," Danny says, mercifully cutting Steve short from having to talk about his feelings. But even as emotions tumble through him, Steve still feels the need to explain.

"I've... I've felt this way for a while now, Danno," he confesses.

Nodding, Danny just says, "I know, Babe. I've known for a while. I've just been waiting for you to catch up."

Steve smiles, then watches as Danny's tongue darts out and licks at his lower lip, so Steve takes a leap of faith and leans forward, pausing for a split second just inches away from Danny's face, then closes his eyes and finishes the distance. He swallows Danny's moan as his tongue seeks entrance, and Danny's free hand comes up and wraps around his neck. They finally part, leaning back in their seats breathlessly when there's a quiet, "Awww," that comes from the right.

When Steve turns, he sees Grace - wide awake and beaming at him and Danny. "Did he figure it out, Danno?" her quiet voice asks.

Letting out a quiet chuckle, Danny drops a kiss onto Grace's head. "He did, Monkey," he says, then reaches for Steve's hand again. "He finally did."


End file.
